Sports

Lady Griz survive MSU rally, win 58-55

Posted: Mar 2, 2013 5:15 PM by Scott Breen - MTN News

BOZEMAN - Montana's basketball women let go of a 12-point lead in the second half, but held on to beat Montana State when Ashley Brumwell's 3-pointer was short at the buzzer.

The Lady Griz led by as many as 14 in the game. But Montana State stormed back in the second half wiping out the deficit to steal a four-point lead.

The officials made it additionally interesting down the stretch, blowing an inadvertent whistle with 21 seconds left to cause confusion. Montana State was trailing 58-55 and had just corralled an offensive rebound, when one of the officials thought she heard MSU coach Tricia Binford call for a timeout. Play was stopped, but Binford did not call a timeout. MSU was awarded the ball out-of-bounds and attempted a quick two, but Rachel Semansky missed from under the basket.

The Lady Griz missed two ensuing free throws before Binford did call MSU's final timeout with 10 seconds left trailing 58-55.

Lindsey Stockton launched a 3-point air ball with time winding down appearing to end the game. Montana rebounded, but Jordan Sullivan was ruled out of bounds as the horn sounded. However, officials conferred again and determined 1.1 seconds be placed back on the clock giving Montana State another chance.

Ashely Brumwell's open 3-pointer from the corner was on target but came up short. The loss drops Montana State to 15-11, 9-8.

Montana's women maintain first place in the Big Sky Conference improving to 21-6 overall, 15-3 in league play. UM's Katie Baker led all scorers with a game-high 18 points.